All's fair in love and war
by zina-shipper-2016
Summary: This follows the Infernal Devices characters in college while they try to deal with problems such as relationships, jobs and ducks. And while Will's trying to make sure that Tatiana doesn't bother him, Gabriel is plotting his duck related death, just as Gideon is determined to win Sophie over and Cecily wants nothing more than to get her brothers enemy to notice her
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The night was cold and dark – no stars or moon at all in the sky. The only light came for the streetlights which illuminated the empty, frozen street. It was the coldest night in decades and not a single person risked being outside in case they experienced frostbite, London University Campus was deserted – save for all but one person. That figure was bundled up tightly against the cold, with only his eyes being exposed, but they kept their gaze firmly on the ground as he kept to the shadows; as if he was worried that the light would expose him to someone he preferred not to meet. He stopped when he reached a building – to be more accurate, the staff offices – in the middle of campus and quickly walked up the steps to the front door. Pulling out a sharp tool and working at the lock for about one minute, while glancing around nervously every now and then, possibly looking for witnesses, before hearing a soft click and carefully opening the door. The mysterious man quickly moved to the alarm beside the door and within a couple of seconds had it disabled. Sticking his head outside the door once more, he anxiously scanned the surrounding area once more to make sure that the alarm hadn't alerted any security in the area. After hearing no feet running in his direction or seeing any bodies jump out from the shadows, he softly closed the front door.

Putting the light on his phone's flashlight app to low, he quickly and silently moved down the large, empty corridors, occasionally glancing at one of the brass plaques beside each door which announced who each door and what was behind it belonged to, just to make sure he hadn't taken a wrong turn. He had almost reached the end the end of the hall when he found the room he was looking for and after carefully checking to make sure there were no secret witnesses, pulled out his lock-picker and got to work on picking the lock again. After hearing a click, he quickly entered the room and flicked on the light switch.

The small windowless room was then flooded in a bright artificial light showing the massive piles of paper, as well as the best printer, laminator and photocopier that money could buy. The man or really boy, obviously deciding that it was safe to, removed his hat and lowered his scarf from the bottom half of his face. The light made his black hair seem even darker and his blue eyes look deeper than the darkest sapphires. He looked like a man on a mission to fix the injustices of the world; but if a professor or member of security discovered him and questioned why he broke into the staff offices and was in their photocopier room, William Herondale's answer would have been more of causing injustice in the world, rather than fixing it.

Moving quickly to the photocopier by the side of the wall, he flicked a couple of switches and watched as it whirled to life. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a leather-bound small book, with various corners having been turned in. Punching in a few numbers on the photocopiers keypad; he opened the small book to the first turned down page and placed it face down as the machine then produced copies of what was written on the pages. It took over an hour to do the whole book and by that time the pile of paper used reached three feet high and he used a massive amount of ink (Will was busy thanking his lucky stars, that he had worn gloves to disguise his fingerprints and worn a hat and scarf to disguise his face from the hallway cameras). When the very last page was finished, he turned off the photocopier, tucked the book back inside his jacket, placed his hat and scarf back on his face, gathered up his huge pile of sheets and snuck out of the room, down the hall and into the freezing December night.

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The next morning at the University's most popular coffee shop 'Java Jones', Gideon Lightwood waited for his brother Gabriel so they could go over their plans for the winter break. Their father Benedict wanted them and their sister Tatiana home for the holidays; but honestly Gideon couldn't imagine a worse hell. Benedict Lightwood was a very cruel person and incredibly degrading to any living being that wasn't a rich, white, western male. He had always instilled beliefs in his children that the Lightwoods were better than anyone else and that you should act like it. It wasn't until the boys started to attend a private boarding school in their late teens that they realised that everything their father taught them was a lie. That not everyone was like their father: cold, manipulative and back-stabbing. Gideon had managed to change his views completely before it was too late, and nowadays wanted very little to do with his father. The only reason he was even considering going home for the holidays was for Gabriel's and Tatiana's sake's who would still listen to and obeyed their father. They were still under his spell and as the older brother it was his job to make sure that their father wasn't going to get them to do some evil scheme that would rise the Lightwood name up in the business world. Not only that, but his father had some very disturbing interests and Gideon made it his wholehearted intention to make sure his siblings didn't get involved.

Just then a firm hand clasped hand around Gideon's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts and turning around he stared into the green eyes of his brother Gabriel. 'About time' Gideon laughed, before embracing his brother in a hug. 'I've barely seen you since Halloween!'

'Well you know me, Gideon' Gabriel laughed, 'I've been very busy: studying, working –'

'Continuing your feud with William Herondale?' Gideon added as the two brothers joined the line of people waiting to order their drinks. His sibling's obsession's with the Herondale boy (for different reasons of course) was something that Gideon could never understand. He had only met the boy less than a handful of times and couldn't find any reason why his siblings acted the way he did around him. To him the boy was very funny and had a love for sarcasm but also had a caring side and a strange fear of ducks. He was also extremely popular and had several girls fawning over him because of his good looks. His sister Tatiana being one of them.

Tatiana Lightwood has had a crush on Will for over a year now, despite the fact that Will has barely spoken more than two words to her over the year and a half that they've spent on campus together. His sister wasn't really one to be reduced to a mess over a boy, but with Will, Tatiana had taken the expression 'lovesick puppy' to a whole new extreme. Nowadays ninety percent of the words that came out of her mouth was about Will and once when Gideon had opened one of her notebooks that she had left behind at his flat, had found it contained nothing but poetry (not very well written either) about Will and how their destined to be together. The notebook was even signed 'property of Tatiana Herondale'. Girl had it bad.

Gabriel however was the opposite. While Tatiana worshipped the ground Will walked on, Gabriel probably wouldn't even spit on the guy if he was on fire. Gideon knew that the two boys didn't get on – you'd have to be living in an entirely different universe to miss that – but he also knew it wasn't the full on hate that most students on campus believed they had. The two boys just extremely disliked each other and for that part spent most of their time either insulting the other or just avoiding them. Gideon wasn't exacting sure of the details about why this dislike for each other started though. All he knew was that it happened in the first week of first year when Will embarrassed Gabriel at a party in front of a girl he was trying to impress and Gabriel immediately got his own back by using Will's strange fear of ducks against him. The boy's feud has continued to this day, thankfully never leaving the stage of insulting each other and spreading rumours. Gideon didn't even want to think of the damage control he would have to do if the duo had entered the stage of physical violence. That would be the point of no return.

'I do not have a feud with William Herondale' Gabriel denied as the brothers ordered their drinks, black coffee for Gideon and chai latte for Gabriel. 'It's just that I don't like the guy. At all. Because he is an annoying, selfish jerk who loves to victimise others. A feud would suggest that I hate him, something –'

'That everyone in the university believes you do. Everyone thinks that you both hate each other and are planning the other's demise' Gideon interrupted, not willing to listen to his brother's denial over his dislike of the Herondale. 'Besides I didn't come here so you could deny that you don't like Will Herondale, I came so we could discuss our plans for the winter break.'

'I know what you're trying to do Gideon' Gabriel interrupted 'you're going to try to convince me and Tatiana not to go home to Father's for the holidays, and to spend it in London with you.' Gabriel looked exhausted as he said this, years older than his twenty-one years. It was the same every time the holidays rolled around. Gideon would spend days trying to convince them not to return home and stay in London. Sometimes he stayed just to please Gideon, other times he went home. Tatiana would never listen to Gideon's pleas and always went home where their father doted on her. Whenever Gabriel made the decision to return home, Gideon would always come with him and would spend the break warily watching their father as if he didn't trust him alone with him and Tatiana. It always made Gabriel irritated to be honest. Why bother coming home if it looks like you're just going to start World War Three with the only parent you had left?

'Look Gabriel, come on, you and I both know that we can't keep going back and forth to Chiswick forever' Gideon argued as they collected their drinks and went to sit down. 'We're growing up and within a year or two; we might have even left the country. Father should know by now that he's got to start letting us go, otherwise it's only going to become harder for him to deal with not being able to see us within a couple of hours.'

Gabriel opened his mouth to argue back, but at that moment he stopped dead in his tracks, causing an unsuspecting Gideon to bump into him and spill his coffee all down his front. 'Aw Jesus Gabriel, look what you made me do! You're lucky this jacket is black, but it's so hot!' Gideon moaned, using his napkins to try and squeeze the piping hot drink out of his clothing. Gabriel however didn't seem to hear him. Instead he moved closer to the bulletin board and was staring at one of the notices in shock. Moving up to join his brother, Gideon glanced up at the notice board to see what had grabbed his brothers attention and almost immediately saw it. On large A3 paper an obviously photocopied sheet was stuck to the middle of the board and at the top in official stationary markings read 'The Diary of Tatiana Lightwood' what followed was lines of his sister's handwriting detailing one of her deepest secrets. 'Oh my God' Gideon moaned, closing his eyes not even wanting to read any more. In his head he cursed his sister for using personalised stationary. If she didn't insist on using it and these sheets still went up, at least she'd be able to deny it! But now everyone knew one of Tatiana's deepest secrets and there was nothing she could do about it.

Moving quickly, Gabriel ripped the sheet off the board and scrunched it up into a tight little ball and dropped it into his drink, watching as the hot liquid turned the paper to mush. Sighing Gideon turned to face Gabriel who was watching the sodden sheet of paper with fierce concentration. 'How many more do you think there are?' he asked quietly. That got Gabriel's attention as he turned to face his brother, 'more?' he echoed quietly. 'Yes, more Gabriel, if there's one floating around, there's most likely others as well.' Just as Gabriel opened his mouth to reply to that, Gideon's phone buzzed in his pocket, signalling that he had a call coming in. Fishing it out of his pocket, he glanced at the caller ID, before shooting Gabriel a worried look. 'It's Tatiana' he said and clicked the accept call button.

Gideon couldn't make much out of the call because of Tatiana's horrific sobbing. He guessed she had seen the pages, or a friend had informed her what had happened. All he could make out from the crying and the sniffing and the jumbled together words were _'Herondale', 'campus centre'_ and _'reading it out'._ Ending the call, he looked over at Gabriel, who was waiting with baited breath. 'Do you have a name?' he asked sternly. Gideon nodded once. 'Herondale' he said 'and from what I could make out, he's in Angel's Square, reading the whole thing out loud.' With a growl, Gabriel flung his drink in the trash and the two brothers stalked out of the coffee shop and towards campus. 'I swear' Gideon heard Gabriel mutter under his breath, 'William is going to die a slow, painful, duck-related death.'

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The square in the middle of campus, commonly nicknamed 'Angel's Square' because of the giant angel statue in the middle, was usually covered in students, studying on one of the benches, seeking shelter under the tarps, walking from end to another as a short cut. But today all students were gathered towards the statue of the angel in the middle of the square. The brothers didn't even have to question why. They could hear William Herondale' voice before they could see him. The boy was probably using a megaphone to ensure as many people as possible knew every embarrassing thing about Tatiana. The boy was currently mocking Tatiana's crush on him, calling her _'crazy'_ and _'who would want to date her?'_ causing several cries of approval to come up from the crowd. Gideon then felt a wave of rage wash over him. All his sister had done was have a crush on the guy, was that so bad?

If Will's actions made Gideon mad, they made Gabriel lose it altogether. With a war cry of 'HERONDALE!' Gabriel charged straight through to the statue. Students then scattered like sheep once they saw Gabriel barging through and they all parted to reveal Will Herondale standing at the base of the statue with a small leather book (he assumed it was Tatiana's diary) in one hand and a mega-phone in the other. Will barely had enough time to turn his head when Gabriel rugby tackled him onto the ground.

Students then immediately gathered around the fighting pair, making bets and crying out for their favourite to win. Gideon tried to push his way through the mob but they were packed so tightly together that it was impossible to move. Just then however, a large CRACK then erupted through the noise. Several people winced and began to back away. Now that it was quieter Gideon could hear someone moaning in pain. Pushing his way through, he spotted Gabriel on the ground holding his arm and looked to be in a lot of pain. From the loud crack that Gideon heard, he was willing to bet that Gabriel's arm was broken. Will on the other hand looked absolutely fine. Well, Gabriel had managed to get a knocks in that would certainly leave some pretty painful bruises. Slowly the Herondale boy got back onto his feet and for a second, Gideon almost thought he was going to attack him, but at that moment, two figures burst out from the crowd and started to drag him away against his wishes.

'Let go!' Will cried, struggling against his captors, 'I mean it you two, let me go now!'

'Not likely' one of the two said. Looking up, Gideon saw that they weren't university police like he originally thought but a boy and a girl around Will's age bundled up tightly against the cold. The boy appeared to be of Asian descendent with black hair with a silver streak running through it. And the girl, the girl. She was beautiful, with dark brown hair and luminous dark hazel eyes. She had a slender figure and a scar running down one side of her face. She was quite frankly the most beautiful girl; Gideon had ever laid eyes on. And she and the other boy were currently dragging Will Herondale away from them. 'We are so sorry' the other boy apologised, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. Gideon could barely take his eyes away from the girl. How could he not have noticed her before? He wanted to go up to her and ask her for her name, but another moan of pain from Gabriel brought him back to his senses, and helping his brother to his feet, he then lead him in the direction of the hospital, his arm looking well and truly broken.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone here's the new chapter and just to let people know that it may take longer for the next couple of chapters to be uploaded for a number of reasons:**

 **1\. I've got to plan out the storyline for the next couple of chapters, this was all I planned out to so far**

 **2\. On Friday I'm going to a friends debs (the Irish version of prom) and then a couple of days later I'm heading down to my grand-parents for a week or two and they have no internet so I won't be able to update. I'll still keep working on the story though, it'll just take longer to update and finally**

 **3\. I'm also working on a few other stories as well, you can click on my profile to read them, but when it comes to updating I'll prioritise them by most popular, so if you want this story to be update as regularly as I can please, please review! Thanks and enjoy!**

 **Chapter Two**

Gideon looked around the bland and barely empty waiting room, wishing he was anywhere but here. Even though they had been here for over an hour and Gabriel's pain must be increasing the longer he went without assistance, judging by the moans of pain coming out of him, getting louder as the minutes ticked by. People always said that the emergency rooms had gotten packed out around the holidays, but he never knew if it was true or not as he was never in an emergency room in his life. Well, he thought, as he pretended to pay attention to the news headline playing on a TV, first time for everything.

While the long wait was obviously torture to his brother, whose skin seemed to be a few shades paler than what it normally was, Gideon didn't really mind the wait. He had spent most of his time; bar from making sure his brother didn't collapse onto the floor from the pain – which would only make his arm worst, thinking about the girl he saw earlier. Now Gideon wasn't really a person for dating, he was just never interested in chatting up girls who only wanted to date him because his family was rich. But this girl just burrowed deep into his head and he couldn't stop thinking her. Not that he minded of course. The only thing that was annoying him was that he didn't know two crucial pieces of information about her: her name and if she was seeing anybody.

Gideon's thoughts were broken up however by another moan of pain coming from his brother, the pain must be getting worse as he could barely keep his arm in one position, his skin was deathly pale and was covered in sweat, and his breathing was coming in huge gasps. Gideon immediately felt guilty about daydreaming about the most beautiful girl ever, while his brother was in real pain after trying to help their sister. Looking around, he saw he wasn't the only one worried about his brother: several patients were looking at him in a concerned way and the nurse at the desk looked nervous too as she whispered something to a porter who then hurried through some doors past the waiting room. Gideon hoped that the man had gone to get a doctor or a nurse; he wasn't sure how much longer Gabriel could stay awake.

'Oh God Gideon' Gabriel gasped as he started to take huge deep breaths of air into his mouth, 'I'm not going to make it.' 'Yes, you are' Gideon scolded gently as he put an arm around his brother in order to give him support so he could focus on breathing and holding his arm in one place, 'don't say things like that.'

Gabriel's face screwed up in pain for a couple of seconds and as the wave of pain passed, Gabriel turned his ghostlike face towards his older brother. 'Hey Gid, if- if I don't make it –'

'Gabriel, all you got a broken arm, you're not lying in the snow after a car crash missing a limb, so I'm pretty sure once they set it, you're going to be fine' Gideon reassured him, thinking that Gabriel was picking up a lesson or two from Will Herondale when it came to making a mountain out of a molehill. However he kept that opinion to himself because: 1) Gabriel looked like he was half unconscious already 2) Will Herondale was now their number one enemy after his little stunts with Tatiana's diary and Gabriel's arm and 3) Gabriel would prefer to be eaten alive by sharks then to ever hear someone say that he learnt something from his mortal enemy (as of this morning).

'But just in case' Gabriel slurred 'I want you to promise to do something for me.' Gideon considered it for a moment before nodding; after all his brother had broken his arm trying to defend Tatiana while he did basically nothing, so maybe he could agree to whatever Gabriel request was. 'I – I want you to- tie William up – and – and – throw him in a duck sanctuary' Gabriel mumbled. Gideon had to work hard to choke down the laughter that was threatening to rise. Out of all the things he could have asked, making sure that the man he hated was experiencing hell was on top of the list. At least he was able to think clearly enough to **form** the thought so -. 'And don't touch any of my stuff either. Spread the word.'

Now that caused a snort of laughter to burst out of Gideon's mouth but quickly disguised it as a coughing fit in case his brother or anybody else in the emergency room thought he was enjoying his brother's pain. 'Don't worry Gabriel' Gideon choked out, 'I'll do it.' 'Good' Gabriel mumbled, his eyes starting to flicker close as two nurses came rushing into the room. After the one at the desk pointed them over to where they were, they then helped Gideon put Gabriel onto a trolley as he was too groggy from the pain to walk. After that was done, Gideon squeezed his brother shoulder and promised to be back once he got Tatiana's diary back. He wasn't sure Gabriel could hear him because at that moment he slipped into unconsciousness, but luckily the nurses promised to pass on the message when he woke up. Walking briskly out of the hospital, Gideon headed in the direction of the university. A few words in the right ears would help him find out where Will Herondale lived. One way or another he was going to get Tatiana's diary back and if he had to beat William Herondale up to get it, then he didn't care.

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Will Herondale was not having a good day. First off he was up all night photocopying sheets from Tatiana's diary, then he had to spend hours putting them up around campus, trying not to get frostbite while doing so. He had forgotten his wallet at home when he was off putting up the sheets so he had no money for coffee. Then when he was reading out Tatiana's diary, Gabriel Lightwood had decided to attack him! Naturally he acted in self-defence and all he did was break Gabriel's arm. Then for some strange reason Sophie his flatmate had decided he was the guilty party and was currently screaming at him. For God's sake, he was the injured party here, not those Lightworms! Gabriel had had the nerve to actually give him a black eye! He had deliberately damaged his beautiful face! Oh when he got hold of those Lightworms he was going to -.

'WILLIAM HERONDALE ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!' Sophie shrieked interrupting his thoughts, looking like some sort of avenging angel. 'Um yes' Will said quickly, glancing over at his best friend Jem for some sort of assistance. But by the look Jem gave him, he guessed Jem agreed with Sophie in thinking that he was guilty.

'Really? Then what did I just say?' Sophie challenged him. Silently cursing both of his roommates, Will gave Sophie his most dazzling smile and said 'that you agree that I am the victim I all of this?'

If looks could kill, Will would be lying on the floor after having been tortured because of the evil look that Sophie was giving him.

'Will I don't get it, why do you think that you're the victim in all of this? You humiliated Tatiana and broke Gabriel's arm. If he wanted to, you could be facing assault charges' Jem who often served as Will's voice of reason said. Even though he had stood by Will and all of Will's crazy schemes over the years, this one really left him confused. He knew that Tatiana had a huge crush on him that he didn't reciprocate and that he didn't get on with Gabriel, but he really did feel that Will crossed a line with his actions today. Especially with Gabriel as their hatred now entered the stage of physical violence. It was the point of no return.

'You don't get it!' Will cried, 'I had to do it, it was the only way she would leave me alone. If I did something so cruel to her that the only feeling she'd have towards me is hatred.' At that moment their intercom buzzed, letting them know that someone was outside waiting to see them and as Jem went into the hallway to answer it, Sophie continued with her questioning of Will. 'Oh for God's sake William, you mean you humiliated a girl and broke her brother's arm when he tried to defend her, all because you wanted her little crush on you to be over?' Sophie cried distressed. That would be a new low even for Will.

'It wasn't just a little crush!' Will cried in a horrified voice. 'She was a full blown stalker and you know it! Don't you remember the way she'd follow me home whenever I went out – even when I was with other people. Don't you guys remember the creepy gifts she'd leave outside for me, including the cake with a tuft of her hair in it! Or what about when she'd call to the flat just to hear my voice them hang up again or even threatening you Sophie to leave because she thought you stood in the way of us 'being together'. And even if I went to the police and got a restraining order she'd just continue to do it from a distance! The only way it was ever going to end was if I got her to hate me! Otherwise you could have harmed you guys! I think that she already knows how to break into the flat so I had to do something before she tried to harm you or Jem or even Cecily!'

Will then patiently waited for Sophie's response but she didn't reply. Frankly Will wasn't even sure if she even listened to him. Instead she was staring at something over Will's shoulder. Turning around Will saw no other than Gideon Lightwood, the only one of the Lightwoods he actually didn't dislike standing in the doorway looking shocked having overheard Will's rant.

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Gideon was shocked. That's the only way he could really put it. He knew Tatiana had a big crush on Will, the notebook full of poetry was a massive indicator; but he had no clue that Tatiana's crush for Will had turned her into an obsessive stalker!

'Oh hello Lightwood' Will said looking a bit sheepish. At least he actually used his real last name not the 'Lightworm' one he often used around Gabriel. 'Just out of curiosity how much of that did you hear?'

'Just your rant about how my sister was stalking you and threatening your friends' Gideon replied in a monotone voice.

'Didn't you know your sister was bat crazy?' Will inquired 'because after today with Gabriel's unprovoked attack, I think it may be a family trait. You might want to get yourself tested Lightworm just in case.'

Gideon bristled at that and took a threatening step towards Will, holding up a fist for good measure 'first off Herondale my brother's attack wasn't unprovoked; you stuck photocopied pages from my sisters diary all over campus, read the whole thing out in Angel Square and you broke his arm as well! He's in hospital having it treated right now! Secondly our last name is Light **wood** not Light **worm** and if I ever hear you calling us that again, I will tie you up and leave you in a duck sanctuary.'

Will then gave a huge gasp and jumped backwards. 'Did you hear that Jem? They have duck sanctuaries! Why would people want to set up places to protect those little monsters! Don't they realise their plotting a revolution to kill and enslave us! They are giving them the numbers necessary to over-throw us! We must secure the house!' with a shriek that Gideon would be pleased to tell Gabriel sounded like a little girls, Will then charged back down into the hall, leaving his two roommates with their heads in their hands.

'Sorry about that' the boy who Gideon assumed to be Jem said, looking incredibly sheepish. 'For which bit?' Gideon asked listening to the sounds of furniture being dragged across a room, coming from down the hall. 'All of it' Jem admitted. 'But Will was telling the truth about Tatiana stalking him, so could you please do something about it, before she contemplates murdering us while we sleep?'

'I'll do my best' Gideon admitted, not wanting to think about how challenging this task was going to be. Firstly getting Tatiana to back off and then facing Gabriel who would without a doubt think that Gideon was sympathising with Will. 'But one thing before I do.'

'What?' Jem asked warily.

'I want my sister's diary back and any of those photocopied sheets that Will still hasn't stuck up. My sister's reputation is already destroyed; I don't want him damaging it further.

'Here' the girl behind him said quietly. Turning around he saw that she was holding the leather bound book that Will had earlier and a folded up sheet of paper. Walking over to wear she was standing Gideon slowly took both thing from her, feeling a strange jolt of electricity flow through him when his hands brushed against hers. Looking into her eyes that reflected the light so beautifully, Gideon quickly ducked his head scared he'd say something foolish and embarrass himself.

'I don't think Will has any more of photocopies of Tatiana's diary, but that sheet of paper has a list of locations I think where he stuck them up. I found it tucked inside the diary's cover when I took it off him' the girl spoke quietly as if she really didn't want to get dragged in the situation, but to Gideon her voice sounded like angel's singing.

'Thank you miss – uh'

'Sophie' she replied with a tiny smile, 'Sophie Collins.'

Gideon smiled and was about to reply when a loud crashing sound erupted from down the hall reminding him that they weren't alone. Almost immediately Will's voice followed from the crashing sound.

'Oh for – Jem come down here and help me move the wardrobe against the window. We need to secure every possible entrance to the flat and stock up on supplies before the evil ducks use their sanctuaries to overthrow, murder and enslave the human race!'

'Oh Lord' Jem muttered, 'don't worry Sophie, I got this.' With that he ran down the hall to stop Will from trying to prepare for an apocalypse that was never going to happen.

'I should leave' Gideon muttered heading towards the door, 'I'll see you around Sophie.'

'See you around' Sophie replied with a faint smile on the corner of her lips.

And with that Gideon exited the apartment feeling a lot happier than he ever remembered feeling and as he went off to try and undo the extent of Will's damage, he was feeling that for the first time in forever, God was giving him a reason to smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 **Hi everyone, thanks for all the favs and follows! Sorry this took so long to upload. I'm back at school now and I have a huge workload so updates will probably be during my breaks! Please review I'd love to know what you think and what I can do to improve my writing! Anyway enjoy!**

Christmas was a long tiresome affair for both Lightwood brothers. Gabriel decided to put as much distance between him and Will as possible, so he went back to their childhood home in Chiswick with Tatiana to spend the Christmas break with their father. A reluctant Gideon went as well, wary that their father might take advantage of their low spirits and manipulate his little brother and sister into doing something 'evil'. It was a very stressful Christmas indeed; after a lot of fighting, crying, begging and persuading, he managed to convince Tatiana to take some time off school and check into a hospital for 'emotional exhaustion'. He was fairly certain that when she got out, she'll feel much better and hopefully, have gotten over Will. If she hadn't, he'd recommend to Will that he'd change his name and leave the country.

Gabriel on the other hand spent half of his Christmas break sulking about his broken arm, and the other half messagening some girl he met while on his work placement for his course. According to Gabriel they had met at the stables near the University when Gabriel had been assiting the main vet with some of the horses. She was bringing in one the needed a check up and they started talking. Gideon hadn't met her yet, but any person who could pull his brother out of his depressive slump over being humilated over William Herondale was alright in his book.

Meanwhile he (Gideon) spent the Christmas break kicking himself for not working up the courage to talk to Sophie again. but he never spotted her on campus and he didn't want to go to her flat in case he saw Will. He was now public enemy number one to the Lightwood brothers now. All he knew about Sophie was that she was born on May 12th, had been to Stonehenge, loved cooking and was currently single (he may have stalked her Facebook page a tiny bit over the break), but never got the chance to talk to her again. Just when he was beginning to think that he screwed up his chance to talk to her again, fate decided to give him one last chance.

It was the day before class started again, and the two brothers were in a restaurant near campus called 'The Institute' to meet said girl that Gabriel was seeing. Apparently she worked part-time here and she agreed to come over to them during her break. It was her that got them the reservation too. The place was always packed out as Henry Branwell (who was one of the physics lecteurs at the university) wife ran it, and he always recommened it to his students; that and it served the most delicous food ever. There was a rumour going around that angels made the food.

That day as Gideon patiently waited for someone to come over to take their order, he observed Gabriel from the top of his menu. He had actually made a geniune effort with his appearance. He hair was freshly washed and styled (which was pretty tricky to do with just one hand), he was wearing a freshly ironed shirt and pants and the cologne, _oh God the cologne,_ Gideon could smell it from the other side of the table it was that strong. The only thing ruining his brothers angelic appearance was the scowl on his face, because appartently his arm itched like crazy and he couldn't scrath it because it was covered in plaster. In all, Gideon wasn't sure whether to laugh at his brother's appearance or find something to cover his nose with, so his nostrils wouldn't be assaulted any longer by Gabriel's cologne.

'Enjoying the view, brother?' Gabriel said, raising an eyebrow. While startled that he had been caught looking, Gideon quickly managed to get a calm look settled across his face. 'Oh I was just wondering if I threw a jug of water over you, would it wash off that cologne you're wearing; but it's so strong I think that it'll survive' Gideon joked. If they were alone at home, Gideon was sure that Gabriel would have flipped him off for that comment; but since they were in public, his younger brother settled for giving him 'The Look'. 'I just want to make an effort' Gabriel said haughitly, sounding very much like their father to Gideon's concern. 'And at least I have the courage to ask a girl out, and not just settle for stalking her Facebook.' At his brother's shocked expression, Gabriel gave a little smirk that reminded Gideon a tiny bit of Will Herondale. 'That's right brother, I've seen you doing that. Now what was that girl's name again?'

Thankfully, Gideon was spared from having to answer that when a waitress finally apeared to take their order. 'Oh I'm so sorry for the long wait, we're a little bit understaffed today as two of our servers called in sick. Anyways I'm Cecily, what can I get you?' Turning towards his savoir, he then almost had a heart attack on the spot, when he saw a female Will standing in front of him. 'Gideon this is Cecily, my girlfriend and Cecily this is my brother Gideon' Gabriel said with a love-struck expression on his face. 'Nice to meet you Gideon' Cecily said sweetly. Snapping out of his shoch, Gideon then fixed a sheepish smile towardrs Cecily. 'Ah. . . um . . . nice to finally meet you Cecily' he mumbled. 'I hope you don't mind me asking, but you don't happen to be related to anybody called Will Herondale, do you?'

At his question, Cecily then laughed, a sound that the Lightwood brothers would have realised sounded fake and forced, had they been paying attention. 'Why does everyone keep asking that? Just because I have black hair and blue eyes? Just so you know, my last name is Owens, Cecily Owens' she babbled nervously.

'Having black hair and blue eyes, doesb't necessairly mean your a Herondale Gid' Gabriel said harshly. 'Our cousin Alec has those features too and there's not a drop of Herondale blood running through his veins.'

Agreeing quickly so they might get onto the topic of ordering food, Gideon watched as Cecily ruffled Gabriel's hair affectionally before squealing with delight, when she recognised the cologne as the one she bought for him (although how she didn't notice it when she first arrived was beyond Gideon. He was now reduced to breathing through his mouth only.) and as she bent down to hug him, she gave Gideon an eagle-eye view of the bar where _Sophie_ was busy serving drinks. At once Gideon tuned out of the conversation and just stared at her. A smile then slowly broke out across his face and he now knew where his new haunt for the rest of the semester would be.

'Anyways don't you think that this cologne suits him better, Gideon?'

Snapping out of his Sophie-induced haze, Gideon turned his attention back to Gabriel and Cecily. 'Yes, yes, of course,' he said quickly, hoping it wasn't obvious that he wasn't paying attention. 'Cecily I've been thinking' he continued on, 'why don't we meet up for dinner, some night you're not working. I'd love to get to know you properly and not when your supposed to be taking our orders.' Flushing bright red, Cecily then jumped up and grabbed her notebook and pen. 'Yes, yes, what can I get you?' she stuttered quickly. After they gave their orders and Cecily flew off to place them in, Gideon resumed his watch on the bar where Sophie was laughing with a fellow employee. 'Dear God Gid', Gabriel snorted, having followed his gaze, 'you've got it bad.' Gideon then kicked him under the table. 'Well your girlfriend looks like a female Will Herondale and had no sense of smell' Gideon retorted, wrapping his arms around his stomach to try and mask the rumbling, wondering what will kill him first: hunger or the stench of Gabriel's cologne.

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Later that night, after all the customers had gone (and most of the employees), Sophie and Cecily were chatting as they cleaned up the bar area. Cecily was rambling on about how she was finally dating her crush. Sophie was only half-listening to her as Cecily had a habit of repeating herself over and over when she was excited. It wasn't until Sophie heard the last name that she clocked who Cecily was talking about.

'Gabriel Lightwood?!' she shrieked, looking at Cecily who was doing a little happy dance to herself. 'How did you get Gabriel Lightwood to go out with you? He swore he wasn't going within five feet of a Herondale again!'

'Well' Cecily sqeauled, delighted that she finally had Sophie's full attention, 'Do you know the stables where I help out at?' Sophie nodded in response. 'Well a couple of days before we broke up, he was thhere on work placement for his course, helping the vet with one of our horses. I couldn't believe he was actually there! I forced myself to go over and talk to him! Oh my God Soph! He was so cute and shy! But when I heard him say that he didn't want anything to do with Herondales, I paniced and said that my last name was Owens!'

'Oh Cecily' Sophie groaned, 'why would you do that?' 'It's not totally a lie' Cecily said defensively. 'Owens was my mother's maiden name so I am technically one!' 'Yeah but Gabriel's going to figure out that you lied sooner or later' Sophie pointed out. She hated to crush Cecily's dreams like this, but for crying out loud someone had to be realistic here! At that tidbit of information Cecily's face fell a bit. 'Ok I know I'm going to have to come clean sooner or later, but I just need time to figure out how I'm going to tell him. I really like him Soph,' she pleaded, blinking her big blue eyes up at her. Sophie melted a bit as she looked into them, wondering how such a feature could look so different on two people so closely related. On Will they looked evil in a way unless he was truly happy or upset about something, while on Cecily they were the picture of innocence - unless she was mad or up to something.

At that moment, Cecily's moblie rang and the caller ID flashed to show an adorable selfie of Gabriel and Cecily taken in the snow. Cecily squealed and rushed to the back room to take it, while Sophie went back to loading dirty glasses into the dishwasher.

After about two minutes of doing this, she heard the door open and two pairs of feet on the hardwood floor and without even turning around she called over her shoulder to the newcomers 'we're closed.' 'We're not here for the food and what did I tell you about talking with your back to people Sophie?' a very familar voice rang out, causing Sophie to stop what she was doing and spin around in excitment, clapping eyes on the person she hadn't seen in flesh since the end of August.

'Jessie!' she shrieked and jumped over the bar, to catch the squealing blond in a bone crushing hug. Jessamine Lovelace was Sophie's cousin. After her parents had been killed in a car accident, she had come to live with Sophie and her parents. It was difficult to say the least. Jessie didn't talk for weeks she was so grief-stricken and when she did speak it was all haughty insults and back-handed comments. But over time Sophie had coaxed Jessie to come out of her shell and reveal the real her: a sweet, caring, 'fight-for-you-until-I-die' girl and while she was still haughty and cruel to those she didn't like;to those who were lucky enough to see the real Jessie, they earned her loyalty and support forever.

It was Jessie last year, who got Sophie through one of the most difficult periods of her life. If it wasn't for her backing her corner, Sophie wasn't sure if she would have completely been able to make a fresh start. Just before school started this year, Jessie headed out to New York, as part of her course's exchange program. She was unable to get back form the States to spend Christmas and New Year with her, Will and Jem as the snowstorms over there were horrific, but here she was! (Oh Will was going to freak!)

'Oh my God when did you get back?' Sophie babbled. 'About an hour ago' Jessie grinned. 'I was going to phone and tell you, but I thought that it would be a great surprise. Did you miss me?'

'Yeah' Sophie cried wrapping her in a hug. Immediately Jessie's scent invaded her nostrils. It was all cotton-candy shampoo, jasmine fabric softener and a new flowery perfume. It was then that Sophie remebered that Jessie had not entered the restaurant alone. Standing behind her cousin and was watching the reunion with a trace of amusement and longing was a girl. She was tall and slim with long brown hair and intelligent and kind grey eyes. She was wearing well worn blue jeans and a thick comfy sweater. There was also a necklace with some type of clockwork angel around her neck.

'Um Jessie' Sophie asked when the two girls broke away from the hug, 'who's that?' Turning around Jessie remembered her compainon and ran over to drag her to Sophie. 'Oh yeah! Soph this is my friend Tessa Gray, we met in New York University. She's here to do the exchange program with her English course. Tessa this is my cousin Sophie Collins. Oh you two have so much in common, I know you're going to get along famously! Are you almost done here Soph? Do you think we can go anywhere for a quiet drink?' 'Um' Sophie said just as Cecily came out from the back.

'Sorry ok oh Jessie your back! When did that happen?' Cecily said shocked. She didn't think Jessie would have been returning for another few days. 'Just now' she said sweetly 'and Cecily I hope you don't mind but could you finish up here. I need to have a long catch up with my cousin.'

And with that in one arm Jessie grabbed Sophie and in the other she got a firm grib of her bags that she had brought in from the outside and dragged her out of the restaurant into the cold January night, with Tessa right behind them, leaving a furious Cecily to finish cleaning.


End file.
